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M.I.T. professor Ely Sachs gave up his faculty position to go all-in on a company that he believes can make solar energy competitive with coal via smart photovoltaic manufacturing. Larry Greenemeier reports
M.I.T.的Ely Sachs教授放弃了他的教职，全力投入到一家公司的工作中。他认为这家公司通过制造智能光电池能使太阳能与煤的竞争力相当。
As a professor at M.I.T., Ely Sachs was a strong supporter of alternative energy research. How strong? Earlier this month, he gave up his tenured faculty position after 25 years. His new company, 1366 Technologies, promises to drive down the cost of solar energy over the next 15 years until it is competitive with coal.
作为M.I.T.教授，Ely Sachs强烈支持替代能源的研究。有多强烈？本月初，已工作25年的他放弃了终身职位。他的新公司，1366技术公司，承诺在未来15年内降低太阳能成本，直到太阳能与煤的竞争力相当。
The company specializes in making silicon crystal wafers to be used in photovoltaic cells. Speaking at the recent Technology Review Emtech conference, Sachs says he can lower costs using a new manufacturing process called "direct wafer." Normally silicon wafers are cut from a larger piece of silicon. This wastes about half of the wafer material. Direct wafer makes individual wafers straight from molten silicon—no cutting required.
该公司专攻用于光伏电池的硅晶片。在《创业科技》杂志举办的Emtech世界新兴技术峰会上，Sachs说他利用一种叫做“直接硅片技术”的新制造工艺降低成本。通常硅片是由一片较大的硅切割而成的。这浪费了大概一半的晶圆材料。直接硅片技术能直接在熔融晶中制成单片晶圆，不需要切割。
1366's next move is to build a small manufacturing facility in Massachusetts. The Department of Energy is buying into Sachs's vision—they've offered him a $150-million loan to continue his work in Massachusetts and to build a second facility elsewhere, as long as it's in the U.S. So he can continue to not burn the midnight oil.
1366技术公司接下来要在马萨诸塞州建一个小型制造工厂。能源部为Sachs的愿景提供了支持，为他提供了1.5亿美元的贷款以继续在马萨诸塞州的工作及在美国其他地方建立第二家工厂。所以他能继续投身于替换能源的工作。
—Larry Greenemeier
n. 水晶，晶体
adj. 晶体的，透明的
